Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years remaining on my flat in South Petherton and Lambrook. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing South Petherton and Lambrook.

I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in South Petherton and Lambrook.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in South Petherton and Lambrook where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

We expect to complete our sale of a £350000 apartment in South Petherton and Lambrook in nine days. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in South Petherton and Lambrook?

South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in South Petherton and Lambrook
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for South Petherton and Lambrook leasehold property is £350. For South Petherton and Lambrook conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in South Petherton and Lambrook - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that will likely add a premium to the service costs? Where a South Petherton and Lambrook lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension. Most South Petherton and Lambrook leasehold properties will have a service charge for maintenance of the building set by the landlord. If you purchase the flat you will have to pay this amount, usually quarterly during the year. This can differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in South Petherton and Lambrook